Are Neanderthals to Blame for the Plight of Sarah Palin?

So I’ve finally had a chance to get caught up with the latest posts at NewsReal, and my favorite is THIS ONE by David Swindle, in which he writes the following:

Arguing for multiple sides to be considered deeply is the foundation of the Academic Freedom Campaign that Horowitz recounts in his new book Reforming Our Universities. Academic skepticism. Looking at multiple sides of issues. Taking the time to actually entertain and consider arguments that challenge and disturb you. Reading books by people who seem like they’re evil incarnate. These are core intellectual practices that I’ve infused deeply into my being.

I’m glad to hear David Swindle say this. And he’s right: it does take a conservative mind to be able to entertain different perspectives. So it will be interesting to see how conservatives respond to my new book about feminism, for in it I take a position that runs counter to what most young Americans on the Left and Right have been conditioned to believe their entire lives.

In my last post I wrote that Sarah Palin has aligned herself with feminists, and I stand by that claim. It does not mean that I hate her, or think ill of her, or have joined forces with those who can’t stand the mention of her name. In fact the most disparaging thing I said about Palin is that her comment was “foolish.” And it was.

It has been two years since Sarah Palin entered the political spotlight, and since that time the women of America have been debating the significance, or lack thereof, of the feminist movement. That’s because Palin represents something unique. Never before had Americans witnessed a conservative woman of Palin’s age — early to mid-forties — with five kids, one of whom had just been born and whose needs are greater than the average baby’s, run for the vice-presidency. It was unprecedented.

There have been several responses from the public. By far the biggest is that the media, quite simply, can’t stand her — and there is only one reason for this. Palin is conservative and the media is not. That Palin is beautiful and popular merely rubs salt in the wound.

The second response, this time from the women in the media, is the questioning of Palin’s ability or choice to have a baby and leave him in other people’s care while she travels the country and lives an adult life. This is entirely hypocritical on the part of the women in the media, for they are feminists who have lived the same kind of life and pride themselves on their ability to do so. Bringing home the bacon and frying it up in a pan is what they live for.